Privacy policy

short.talk gives you a QR code that opens a private chat with you, without either side seeing the other's phone number. This page says what we keep, why, who else handles it, and for how long.

Last updated 6 November 2026. It covers the website at short.talk and the Short Talk apps for iPhone and Android.

In short

Your number is never shown to anyone and never stored as it is: we keep a keyed hash and its last two digits.
Messages, photos and files are stored encrypted. Chats between two people using the app are end-to-end encrypted: we can't read them.
No ads, no selling of data, no analytics or trackers. Fonts and scripts come from our own server.
You can download your data and delete your account at any time, from the app or the website.

What we collect

When you sign in

Your mobile number, to send you a sign-in code. We store only a keyed hash of it (a one-way code made with a secret key kept outside the database) and its last two digits, so you can recognise it. The number itself passes through our SMS provider to send the code, and is not kept by us.
Your PIN, stored only as a one-way hash.
Your devices and sessions: a device name (such as "iPhone" or your browser's name), a rough location (a city or country) when our network provider supplies one, never your IP address, and when each was signed in and last used. A trusted device keeps a token so it isn't asked for a code every time.

What you choose to add

Your name and profile photo, both optional.
Your topics (the QR codes): their names, photos, quick questions and settings.
Conversations: messages, photos, videos, documents, voice call records (who called, when and for how long; never the audio), broadcasts, the names you give people, saved replies, your away message and folders.
Reports you make about a conversation, with the messages included in them.

Without an account

Someone who scans a QR on the website can chat without signing in. We keep a session cookie for their browser, the messages they send and the name they give.

For the service to work and stay safe

Notification addresses for your browsers and phones, and your notification settings.
Your IP address as a keyed hash, to apply rate limits and abuse rules. Sign-in records keep only the network, not the address.
How often each topic's QR is opened: a daily count, with nothing about who opened it.
Purchases: your plan, which store it was bought through, and when it renews or ends. Payment details stay with Apple or Google; we never see your card.

How it's protected

Encrypted at rest: message text, broadcasts, photos, videos, documents, the names in conversations, saved replies and your away message are stored encrypted on our servers. Backups are encrypted again. Profile and topic photos are encrypted too.
Deleted means unrecoverable: each conversation, topic and account is encrypted with its own key, and that key is destroyed the moment it's deleted. What's left of it anywhere on our servers can't be read again, by anyone, us included. Encrypted backups made before the deletion rotate out within 8 weeks.
End-to-end encrypted, app to app: when both people use the Short Talk app, messages, photos and files are encrypted on the sender's phone and can only be opened on the two people's devices, including computers they link from the app. The keys never reach us. This uses MLS, an open standard for end-to-end encryption.
Not end-to-end with website visitors: chats with someone writing from the website without the app are encrypted on our servers, but not end-to-end. Once they install the app, the chat becomes end-to-end by itself.
Nobody at short.talk reads conversations. The team's console has no way to open them. The team sees messages only when someone reports a conversation, and then only the messages in the report.
Calls are encrypted between the two devices and pass through a relay, so neither side learns the other's IP address.
Everything travels over HTTPS.

Who sees what

Information	Shown to
Your phone number	Nobody, ever: not the people you chat with, not other members
Your name and profile photo	The owners of topics you message. People who message your topics see the topic's photo, and yours only if the topic has none, once they've written. They never see your name.
Your messages, photos and files	The other person in that conversation
That other people message you	Only you: visitors never learn about each other
When you've read a message	The other person, unless you've switched read receipts off for them
The name you give someone	Only you

We don't sell or rent personal information, and we don't share it for advertising. These services handle some of it, only to run short.talk:

Twilio sends sign-in codes by SMS or WhatsApp (it receives your number to do so) and is a backup relay for calls (it carries encrypted call audio it can't listen to).
Apple and Google deliver notifications to phones, and browser makers' push services deliver them to browsers. Notifications never contain the text of a message. Apple and Google also process plan purchases made in the apps.
Contabo rents us the servers short.talk runs on.

We share information with authorities only when the law requires it. For end-to-end encrypted chats we have no message content to give.

How long we keep it

Conversations stay until the topic is deleted. If the other person deletes a chat, it ends for both of you.
View-once photos and videos are deleted as soon as they're opened, or after 14 days.
A closed topic keeps its conversations for you to read until you delete it.
Deleting your account waits 7 days, so you can change your mind. Then your topics, conversations, photos, devices, settings and purchases records are erased. Encrypted backups rotate out within 8 weeks.
Sessions end 90 days after you sign in, or when you sign out. Sign-in codes last 10 minutes.

Your choices

Download your data as a file, from Security in the app or on the website.
Delete your account, from the same place, with your PIN: how, and what's deleted.
Change or remove your name and photo, close or delete any topic, block anyone, and switch read receipts or calls off for any person.
Choose your notifications: how often, quiet hours, and which devices get them.
Sign out any device, or every device at once.

Depending on where you live, you may have further rights over your data, such as to correct it or object to how it's used. Write to us and we'll help.

The website uses three cookies, all needed for it to work: one for your session, one that remembers a trusted device, and one that holds a sign-in step for 10 minutes. There are no advertising, analytics or third-party cookies. The apps keep the same session on the phone instead.

Children

short.talk isn't meant for children under 13, and we don't knowingly collect their information.

Changes

When this policy changes, we update this page and its date. For a significant change, we'll also tell you in the app.

Contact

Questions or requests about your data: privacy@short.talk.